Changeable sign



June 9,1925. 3 1,541,655

G. F. PARRlS CHANGEABLE S IGN Filed Aug. 22., 1924 4 I Inventor:

Gamma F. RQRRKS v Attorney.

Patented June 9, 1925. I

UNITED STATES GEORGE E. PARRIS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

GHANGEABLE SIGN.

Application filed August 22, 1924. Serial No. 733,583.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that GEORGE F. PARRIS, a citizen of the United States of America, residin at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Ange es and State 'of California, has invented new and useful Improvements in Changeable Signs, of which the following is a specification. t p

The object of the invention is to-provide a changeable sign either for advertising or for 'directoryuse, as in an office building or an apartment house,- and of a construction susceptible of combining the most neat and attractive appearance with the most effective mechanical details; to provide a sign of this character mat remains durable with continued use and which may be produced at a minimum cost; and toprovide a construction that will permit the use of flexible letters of various materials conventionally used for. such purposes with the possibility, where desirable, of using capitals or arbitrarily changing the sizes of different letters or different lines of letters.

With these objects in. view, the invention consists in a construction and combination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a sign constructed in accordance withthe invention, showing the manner in which dif ferent sized letters and different sized lines may be employed.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are detail sectional views of modifications in the form of the letters.

The sign proper consists of the base 1 bounded, where desirable, by a. frame 2.

The base constitutes the background for the indicia and preferably is dyed with a black stain which will not fadewhen exposed to the sunlight.

To providemeans for attaching the letters, the base on the front faceis slotted or as indicated at 4, and preferably the angle of the grooves 4 is twenty-two and one-half degrees from the plane of the front face of the base. This'is for the purpose.of permitting the letters 5lying as close to the base as possible when attached, and the at-- taching means for the letters consist of ears 6, formed as integral parts thereof and extending from opposite ends of the letters. In other words, the grooves 3 have their longitudinal side walls grooved at pronounced acute angles with the plane of the face of the base and are divergent, the latter grooves of the walls of the first named grooves converging toward other latter grooves of an. adjacent first named groove.

It will be noted that the bottoms of the grooves 3 are V-shaped and conform and constitute certain of the sides of the grooves '4. In other words, the bottoms of the grooves 3 and certain sides of the grooves 4 constitute a V-shaped wall with the apexes in the centers of the grooves 3.

The ears are inserted through the grooves 3 and engage in the grooves 4 thereof and the letters, which are preferably of cell-uloid or may be of paper or metal, are thereby flexed and the resilience of the material serves to hold them in place. It is obvious that by selecting the proper grooves and the proper size letters, the desired indicia may be placed on the sign and any letter 'or digit of the size desired.

The modifications illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5 relate to metal letters. The arrangement shown in Figure 3 provides for deflecting the ears backwardly at an angle of approximately fifty-seven and one-half degrees so that the letter may lie flat against the face of the board. In the arrangement shown in Figure 4, the ears are bent backwardly to an acute axle of twenty-two and one-half degrees to engage converging rather than diverging grooves as with the arrangement shown in Figure 3. In the construction shown in Figure 5, the upper ear is bent downwardly as in Figure 4 and the lower ear deflected backwardly as in Figure 3, thus permitting the letter to be hung on the board with the lower ear acting as an additional means to retain it in place.

The invention having been described,

what, is claimed as new and useful is:

A changeable sign comprising a solid base provided On its front face with a series of relatively close parallel arbitrarily spaced longitudinal grooves, the walls of which being grooved atpronounced. acute angles with the plane of the face of the base and diverging, the latter grooves of the walls of the first named groovesbonverging toward other latter grooves of an adjacent 5 first named groove, the bottoms of the first named grooves being V-shaped, conforming to the second named grooves, and flexible letters provided with ear extensions engag ing with the second named grooves, either with those which diverge or others that con- 10 verge, the letters being retained therein by the resilience of the material of the letters.

In testimony whereof he aifixes his signature.

GEORGE F. PARRIS. 

